Contemporary proximity sensing techniques are used to determine whether (and at what distance) an object has entered into a range of a proximity sensor of an autonomous electronic system. For example, a capacitive electrode is able to discern the proximal presence of an object and in response activate a function of the autonomous electronic system. However, conventional sensors often have difficulty determining the nature of the proximal object and/or the material(s) that comprise the object. Accordingly, false positive proximal detections often occur for certain objects that enter the range of the proximity sensor.